Big blow for Punjab Kings, star all-rounder likely to be ruled out of IPL 2025

Punjab Kings (PBKS) all-rounder has suffered a fracture in his finger in during the team's practice session before their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), captain Shreyas Iyer said at the toss during the clash against CSK.

Before the match, Maxwell's IPL teammate Marcus Stoinis also confirmed Maxwell had broken his finger at training before the rained-out encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders on April 26, adding that he's likely "out of the tournament".

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In Maxwell's absence, PBKS picked Suryansh Shedge and named only three overseas players in their XI after opting to bowl first.

"It's very unfortunate that he's got a fractured finger," Shreyas said at the toss. "To be honest, we haven't decided about the replacements yet so far but we are pretty strong in our team's mindset and what we have outside of our playing XI. We've got varieties of players who can win you matches. So we're going to stick to that as much as possible."

Stoinis also confirmed the same about Maxwell's fractured finger. "Unfortunately, Maxi's broken his finger," he told the broadcasters before the match in Chennai. "He broke it just before the last game at training. He didn't think it was too bad, but it ended up getting pretty bad. He had scans and yeah, the results weren't great. So unfortunately for Maxi, I think it's likely he's out for the tournament."

Maxwell has failed to perform with bat in the IPL 2025 so far but has contributed with his offspin, taking four wickets. He has 48 runs in six innings, including single-digit scores in each of his last four games. In the last outing against KKR, he scored 7 off 8 balls before being bowled by Varun Chakravarthy. He was bought for INR 4.2 crore at the 2025 mega auction.